Baffert On Hand for American Pharoah's Gallop

Zayat Stables' American Pharoah continued his preparation for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I) by galloping 1 1/2 miles on the Churchill Downs main track May 31 with exercise rider Jorge Alvarez in the irons.



Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert flew into Louisville May 30 from his Southern California base to oversee the homebred son of Pioneerof the Nile  's training.



"He looks very healthy and he's happy. He looks like he's getting ready to work," Baffert said. "He knows that he's getting close to a work, so it's getting pretty tough on him. When he hit the quarter pole, (Alvarez) said he wanted to take off, so he'll breeze (June 1) at 8:30 (a.m.), during the break. We'll probably leave at the half-mile pole, sort of like we did last week, and that should be it for him."



Monday's drill will be his second work since his triumph in the May 16 Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I). His most recent breeze was a half-mile in :48 flat May 26.



"I didn't want to wait two weeks to work him (after the Preakness), because after the Arkansas Derby (gr. I), when I worked him, he was a little too fresh," Baffert said. "He was going faster than we wanted him to. This last week, he was more controllable, which is where we want him a little bit. We don't want him to go too fast early. We want him to get into that nice, fast cruising stride that he has. When he gets his ears forward, and he's enjoying it and springing around there like a big kangaroo--we want to see that."



While Baffert is happy with the way American Pharoah is training and confident that his horse will run big Saturday, he admitted to feeling a mix of emotions going into Monday's workout.



"I don't sleep well the night before a work," he said. "Tomorrow morning, I'll be a little nervous for the work, hoping that it's going to go as planned. The horse is showing me that he wants to do something and that he's happy. As long as he's enjoying what he's doing, that's what you want to see. I'm looking forward to it and hope that it goes like it did last week. It went really smooth and you can tell he's really enjoying it. Martin (Garcia) is here to work him and he knows what we're doing."



In other Belmont Stakes news, Donegal Racing's Keen Ice jogged two miles Sunday with exercise rider Faustino Aguilar in the irons for trainer Dale Romans. The son of Curlin   is scheduled to breeze June 2 and will leave at 10 a.m. the same day for an 11:30 a.m. flight to New York. American Pharoah will be aboard the same flight.